Pushing 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi to the Limits with High-Gain Antennas
How far can you push the range of Wi-Fi connectivity in an ideal environment?
I set out to determine the maximum range of Wi-Fi connectivity in an ideal environment by controlling a robot remotely. Using 802.11n adapters and high-gain antennas like the 14dBi Yagi, we tested signal strength at an airport. Our experiments successfully maintained a functional connection up to 1400 meters, demonstrating how directional antennas can significantly extend range beyond standard indoor capabilities.
It is interesting to see how the stock 2dBi antennas still managed to transmit a functional Wi-Fi signal out to 430m, showcasing the effects that structures and interference have on the range of a Wi-Fi signal.
- kawfey
"Ideal" isn't doing as much heavy lifting as I thought it would be in this article. This is a basic wardriving setup on flat ground.
Standard wifi is phy limited to ~1600m unless you can increase ack response time limit, otherwise retransmissions will be sent by the sender while ack's are being transmitted by the receiver.
Then, per friis equation, with enough power and antenna gain (it's the antenna gain that really matters) the limit is only obstructions/terrain. Get yourself high enough (mountains, planes, satellites, moons, etc), or bounce of an opportune reflector (planes, moon, aurora, meteors, ionosphere, rain, hail, etc), and there is no real limit, besides how big of an antenna you're willing to build in orbit :P
or just make the throughput really really really REALLY slow and ice your receivers with liquid He.
Hams make a game of it: https://www.arrl.org/files/file/WA50-Standings/Distance-Reco...
- bradleybuda
Not one Pringles can utilized. We have failed to pass along the ancient knowledge.
- somat
I vaguely remember some sort of stunt where they had got hold of two 3 meter dishes paired them with off the shelf wifi radios, mounted one on a pickup truck and drove out across a dry lake bed. 53 miles before signal loss is what I remember.
I will probably never be able to find the source, and my poor memory probably inflated the range like any good fish story.